"Beyond All of This"

"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." (Psalms 97:11)
Whether you realize it or not, we cannot obtain perfection here, at least not in this condition; but we have perfection in heaven already; and that my friends, is what it's all about! We have already been perfected in Christ, and there is really nothing more needed to be done in order to make us perfect before the Father, because the blood of Jesus has already washed us as white as snow. Does that mean that we get to do whatever we want? No, we could, we are at liberty to do many things, but what we do needs to reflect the love of God in our lives. So, it comes down to the testimony of God's power in and over our lives; if our testimony does not match the story, then the story isn't being told in our lives, plain and simple. Our lives should match up with those who have gone before us. That sure does leave a whole lot of wiggle-room, depending on the characters you are following after; but the main character we need to be focused upon is Christ. I heard Pastor Jon speak about something the other day, it was about those who might wonder if they would have been better off without the Lord in their lives; those who might wonder if this or that would have happened differently had they not been a Christian. Stuff happens to people all the time; both the believer and the nonbeliever go through the same sicknesses, poverty, and disappointments of just living in this fallen world, But the big difference between the two, is that those who believe get to cry out to their Father, and hope for something better than what this world has to offer; and they get to rejoice! We do not have to settle for the disappointments, because there is something waiting for us, beyond all of this...
""I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don't obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say."" (John 12:46-50) NLT